What we covered here
• Focus on strait: The US military said it destroyed Iranian naval ships — including 16 minelayers — near the Strait of Hormuz. Sources told CNN earlier that Tehran has begun laying mines in the waterway, the world’s most important energy chokepoint, through which about one-fifth of all crude oil travels.
• Tehran airport: Video geolocated by CNN shows explosions coming from the direction of Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport. This comes as the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
• Baghdad target: A suspected Iranian drone hit a US diplomatic facility in Iraq on Tuesday, two sources told CNN. Iran has been targeting US military and diplomatic installations as it retaliates against ongoing US and Israeli military operations.
• “Most intense”: Iran’s revolutionary guards claimed they launched their “most intense and heaviest operation” since the start of the war, state media reported.
Container vessel damaged by "suspected projectile" off UAE, reports UKMTO
A container vessel has sustained damage off the north coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The incident was caused by a “suspected but unknown projectile” and the extent of the damage is “under investigation by the crew,” UKMTO said in a report Wednesday.
The vessel was located northwest of the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah and all crew members are safe and accounted for, the UKMTO added.
Explosions seen near Tehran's airport
Video geolocated by CNN shows explosions coming from the direction of Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
In the video, which was posted to social media Wednesday morning local time, several large explosions can be heard and a large orange flash can be seen.
It comes as the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
Democratic Sen. Murphy calls Trump's Iran war plans 'incoherent’ after classified briefing
Sen. Chris Murphy called the Trump administration’s Iran war plans “incoherent and incomplete” and said he worries the conflict could turn into an “endless war” after attending a two-hour classified briefing on Capitol Hill today.
Murphy, who is among many Senate Democrats pushing for public hearings on the war, said he couldn’t disclose classified information, but he shared several concerns coming out of the briefing.
“Maybe the lead is that the war goals DO NOT involve destroying Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is, uh…surprising…since Trump says over and over this is a key goal,” Murphy said.
Murphy, who sits on the Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees, said the briefers confirmed to the senators that regime change is also not on the list of key goals for the administration.
“So, they are going to spend hundreds of billions of your taxpayer dollars, get a whole bunch of Americans killed, and a hardline regime - probably a MORE anti-American hardline regime - will still be in charge,” Murphy posted.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
“The question that stumped them: what happens when you stop bombing and they restart production?” Murphy said. “They hinted at more bombing. Which is, of course, endless war.”
Murphy also was not satisfied with the briefing on the subject of the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil and is now effectively controlled by Iran.
“They had NO PLAN,” Murphy said. “I can’t go into more detail about how Iran gums up the Strait, but suffice it say, right now, they don’t know how to get it safely back open. Which is unforgiveable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.”
Background: CNN reported earlier today that Iran has begun laying mines in the strait, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.
The US military said today that it has destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait.
Iran's revolutionary guards says it launched "most intense" operation
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched its “most intense and heaviest operation” since the start of the war, according to state media.
Iran claimed its overnight attack involved missile launches, including its long-range ballistic Khorramshahr missile, against targets in Israel and at US assets in the region, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported.
At a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US will not relent until “the enemy is totally and decisively defeated,” adding that this will be done on the United States’ timeline.
There were sirens in central Israel on Wednesday morning, after the Israel Defense Forces warned of missile launches from Iran. No injuries were reported.
Asia looks to US energy to fix its fuel shortage
US oil and gas are in high demand overseas right now, as Asian nations that rely heavily on Middle Eastern energy imports look for alternative sources of supply.
According to Argus Media, a market pricing firm, prices for US light sweet crude for delivery in Asia have spiked 47% to $115 a barrel since the US and Israel launched their initial attack on Iran. Meanwhile, freight rates for US liquefied natural gas, or LNG, have more than quadrupled and at least four cargoes of US LNG have been diverted away from Europe and toward Asia.
Though Japanese refiners have bought up to 9 million barrels of US crude for June arrival since the war started, other Asian buyers have been reluctant to pay such high premiums and are waiting to see if the situation improves, said Fabian Ng, head of crude pricing in Asia for Argus.
But around the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 80% of Asian fuel supplies transit, the conflict has been escalating. The US military said it destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the critical energy passageway Tuesday. On social media, President Donald Trump warned Iran of consequences for laying mines in the strait.
As the war has choked off a primary source of energy for many countries in Asia, some like Indonesia and Pakistan have been forced to rely reserves that may only last a few weeks. And as demand spikes, the US does not have the production capacity to make up for the global shortfall in oil and gas from the Middle East, said analysts at research firm Energy Aspects.
“Most Asian buyers are resorting to storage, fuel-switching and some industrial demand curtailment to offset lost LNG,” said Livia Gallarati, Energy Aspects’ head of global gas.
More strikes, destroyed naval ships and humanitarian visas. Here's the latest
Gulf states have been intercepting new waves of Iranian drones and missiles early Wednesday local time.
Israel began a second wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and is also striking a suburb of Beirut in Lebanon, its military said.
In an earlier wave Tuesday, Israel said it struck Tehran and the city of Tabriz in Iran, hitting “central command centers where Iranian terror regime operatives were located.”
Here’s what else you should know:
- Baghdad strikes: A suspected Iranian drone hit a US diplomatic facility in Iraq Tuesday, two sources told CNN. It struck the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center — a large logistical and operational support hub located near the Baghdad airport.
- Destroyed naval ships: The US military said it destroyed multiple Iranian naval ships — including 16 minelayers — near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. CNN reported earlier, citing sources familiar, that Tehran has begun laying mines in the waterway, the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil,.
- North Korea weighs in: North Korea criticized the United States and Israel over their attacks on Iran and said it respects Tehran’s right to select a new supreme leader.
- Humanitarian visas: Two more members of the Iranian football team were granted humanitarian visas in Australia before the rest of the team departed Sydney late Tuesday, Home Affairs Tony Burke confirmed Wednesday. That takes the total number of visas granted to 7 – including six players and a member of the Iranian support team.
CNN’s Erin Burnett and Jeremy Diamond take shelter in Tel Aviv as missile sirens ring out while discussing their experience with Fred Pleitgen in Tehran.
CNN’s Dana Karni, Hira Humayun, Jonny Hallam, Hilary Whiteman, Helen Regan, Brad Lendon contributed reporting.
Suspected Iranian drone hits US diplomatic facility in Iraq, sources say
A suspected Iranian drone hit a US diplomatic facility in Iraq Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The drone struck the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center — a large logistical and operational support hub located near the Baghdad airport. The drone hit near a guard tower, one of the sources said. It was unclear if there were any casualties. The extent of the damage is also not clear.
The strike comes as Iran has targeted US military and diplomatic installations as it retaliates for ongoing US and Israeli military operations. It underscores the continued threat to US personnel in the region.
CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment. The Washington Post first reported on the strike.
The State Department last week ordered non-emergency personnel to leave Iraq.
In a security alert Tuesday, the US Embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens “to exercise caution, avoid drawing attention, and stay away from areas that could make them a target.”
“Gathering in areas associated with the United States or with groups of other American citizens may put you at risk. Attacks against American citizens and interests in Iraq have occurred, Americans face a risk of kidnapping, and American companies, hotels frequented by foreigners, and other facilities in Iraq, including those with ties to the United States, have been targeted in attacks. Critical sites throughout Iraq have also been targeted in attacks,” the alert said.
Gulf states face fresh waves of Iranian missile and drone attacks
Gulf states have been intercepting new waves of Iranian drones and missiles early Wednesday local time.
United Arab Emirates warned residents to stay in a safe location, with its defense ministry saying air defenses were “responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.”
In the past two hours, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six ballistic missiles heading for Prince Sultan Air Base. It has also intercepted a number of drones in eastern parts of the country, the defense ministry said. It earlier said it had intercepted ballistic weapons bound for the Shaybah oil field.
Sirens have been sounding in Bahrain this morning and the interior ministry has urged residents to head to the nearest safe space.
Earlier, in a statement, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said it had executed “multi-layered and continuous waves against US bases and (Israel).”
CNN’s Antoinette Radford reports on earlier strikes on Bahrain.
US Navy decommissioned its dedicated minesweepers in Persian Gulf last year
With reports emerging that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, attention is turning to what countermeasures the US Navy can employ to combat them.
The Navy has had no dedicated minesweepers in the Persian Gulf since last September, when the last of four specialized mine-countermeasures ship that had served in the Persian Gulf for decades was decommissioned at the US Navy facility in Bahrain.
In January, the four former minesweepers were put aboard a heavy-lift vessel and sent back to the US for scrapping.
At the time of the decommissioning in September, US Naval Forces Central Command said minesweeping duties in the gulf would fall to four littoral combat ships (LCS) that would be sent to region.
The LCS fleet was designed to perform two key missions with two different mission packages of hardware and software that can be interchanged on the ships. One is for surface warfare, and the other is for mine countermeasures, according to the Navy.
But the LCS fleet of about 30 active vessels has had a history of problems in reliability – and some analysts say relevance – since the first versions were commissioned in 2008 and 2010.
Critics call the LCS – derisively referred to as “Little Crappy Ships”— as one of the biggest failures in US shipbuilding history. Some of the earliest models have already been retired with just a handful of years on active duty.
Before the war with Iran began, CNN tracking showed three LCS were in the Persian Gulf region.
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said deployment of the LCS in the Strait of Hormuz would be “more of a publicity stunt than anything else.”
“The Navy bureaucracy will employ them to make the design seem useful” and “justify their excessive cost,” he told CNN.
Fresh airstrikes hit Tehran residential area, Iranian Red Crescent says
The Iranian Red Crescent said it was responding to an airstrike on a residential area in Tehran early Wednesday local time.
Video posted by the Red Crescent shows teams trying to access a bombed-out building and a rescue dog approaching the scene. Debris can be seen filling the streets.
It is unclear exactly where in the city the attack took place.
Earlier, Tehran’s Governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said US-Israeli strikes have targeted residential areas and the city’s vital public infrastructure, including electricity, water, gas, and communications networks, according to Iranian state media.
Despite the attacks, he said “daily life in Tehran is continuing without disruption.”
CNN journalists in Tel Aviv and Tehran discuss the scene on the ground
CNN’s Erin Burnett and Jeremy Diamond take shelter near a stairwell in Tel Aviv as missile sirens ring out while discussing their experience with Fred Pleitgen who ran for cover this morning in Tehran without similar siren systems.
CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the Iranian government, as required under local regulations, but maintains full editorial control over what it reports.
7 members of Iranian football team granted visas as delegation departs Australia
Two more members of the Iranian football team were granted humanitarian visas in Australia before the rest of the team departed Sydney late Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed Wednesday.
That takes the total number of visas granted to 7 – including six players and a member of the Iranian support team.
Burke said most members of the Iranian delegation had an opportunity for a private meeting with officials – facilitated by a heavy police presence to separate them from Iranian minders.
Iranian officials had earlier lashed out at Australia, accusing it emotionally manipulating the women with “tempting offers” to entice them to stay in the country.
Burke said he spoke with the commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) before the visas were granted to confirm that players would be able to be protected in Australia.
At least one local soccer club has offered to provide training for the women to help them settled in their new home.
North Korea says US-Israeli strikes are illegal and new leader is Iranian people's "choice"
North Korea has criticized the United States and Israel over their attacks on Iran and said it respects Tehran’s right to select a new supreme leader.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Pyongyang strongly denounces the US-Israeli strikes, accusing them of destroying regional peace and “escalating instability worldwide by mounting an illegal military attack on Iran,” according to North Korea’s state news agency KCNA.
Pyongyang also criticized what it described as outside interference in Iran’s political system, warning that “rhetorical threats and military action” aimed at undermining another country’s government “can never be tolerated.”
North Korea said it respects the decision by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to select a new supreme leader, saying the move reflected “the rights and choice of the Iranian people,” KCNA said.
Israel is striking Tehran and Beirut
Israel has begun a second wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and is also striking a suburb of Beirut in Lebanon, its military said.
In an earlier wave on Tuesday it struck Tehran and the city of Tabriz in Iran, hitting “central command centers where Iranian terror regime operatives were located.”
In that first wave, the Israeli military said it had hit a military site and a large compound in Tabriz belonging to Iran’s Basij paramilitary force.
“The completed strikes (in Iran) are with the goal of increasing the damage to the foundational capabilities and core operational arrays of the Iranian terrorist regime,” the Israeli military said of the first wave of strikes.
In a later update, the Israeli military said it was also striking Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, targeting infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
US destroys Iranian naval ships and minelayers near Strait of Hormuz, military says
The US military said it destroyed multiple Iranian naval ships — including 16 minelayers — near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
US Central Command posted video of some of the strikes on X.
CNN reported earlier today that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.
President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that “if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!”
Following Trump’s post, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted on X that at Trump’s direction, US Central Command “has been eliminating inactive mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—wiping them out with ruthless precision. We will not allow terrorists to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage.”
Where there have been strikes across the Middle East since the start of the war
CNN’s team in Tehran felt heavy aerial bombardment overnight, to which Iran retaliated with strikes against Israel, according to the Israeli military.
Meantime, neighboring countries on Tuesday reported fresh attacks with drones and missiles.
Here’s a look at where the strikes have taken place since the beginning of the conflict:
It's just past midnight in Tehran. Here's what you should know about the war
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday accused the US and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, with strikes killing more than 1,300 since the conflict started on February 28.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani also claimed the UN Security Council was “turning a blind eye” to the situation in Iran.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that nearly 1,250 civilians have been killed in Iran.
Catch up on other headlines here:
- US injuries: Approximately 140 US troops have sustained injuries since the beginning of the US operations, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, including eight who have been seriously wounded.
- Lebanon toll: Israel’s swelling offensive has killed more than 10 children every day so far, according to the UN’s children’s agency, as rights advocates drew parallels with the brutal campaign in Gaza.
- Arrests in Iran: Iran’s intelligence authorities have arrested 30 people, including a foreign national, accused of spying and working with foreign adversaries, the state news agency IRNA reported Tuesday.
- Military intervention: President Donald Trump does “not rule options out” in the war, including deploying US ground troops, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
- More from the White House: Leavitt claimed the US war will deliver lower gas prices for Americans over the “long term,” despite the recent surge in energy costs. The White House also offered its view on what an “unconditional surrender” by Iran could look like, saying it will be personally determined by Trump.
- Democrats’ demands: Key Senate Democrats emerged from a classified briefing demanding the US administration make its case publicly for its continued military campaign — not just inside classified rooms on Capitol Hill.
- Russia’s role: Russian officials told Trump in a call Monday that they “have not been sharing” intelligence on the location of US military assets, according to envoy Steve Witkoff. The Trump administration has discussed further easing sanctions on Russian oil as part of an urgent effort to combat rising energy prices spurred by its war with Iran, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
- Mines: Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.
CNN’s Betsy Klein, Lauren Fox, Alison Main, Morgan Rimmer, Sarah Ferris, Sana Noor Haq, Catherine Nicholls, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Adam Cancryn, Haley Britzky, Kevin Liptak, Zachary Cohen, Samantha Waldenberg, Donald Judd and Netasha Bertrand contributed reporting.
Iran’s UN envoy says US-Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,300 civilians
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has accused the US and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, with strikes killing more than 1,300 since the conflict started.
Speaking to reporters at a UN stakeout focused on war casualties and the ongoing US-Israeli strikes, Amir Saeid Iravani said “populated residential areas” and “critical civilian infrastructure” had been hit in attacks he described as “horrific crimes.”
He said 9,669 civilian sites had been destroyed, including nearly 8,000 residential homes, along with commercial centers, medical and pharmaceutical facilities and schools and educational institutions.
Iravani said the figures were rising “every day” as strikes continued across Iranian cities.
Iravani also said there were heavy strikes on fuel storage facilities in Tehran and other cities on the nights of March 5 and March 7, saying the attacks released large quantities of hazardous and toxic pollutants into the atmosphere.
Rainfall on the morning of March 8 spread the pollutants through “highly acidic precipitation,” Iravani said, increasing the risk of respiratory harm and environmental contamination.
Medical centers in Tehran have been placed on high alert and residents have been advised to remain indoors, he added.
Iravani alleged the strikes violated international environmental obligations, including those under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, and criticized the UN Security Council, accusing it of “turning a blind eye” to the situation in Iran.
No naval escorts yet through Strait, White House says, after energy secretary says one happened
The US Navy has yet to escort an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, the White House said Tuesday, after the US energy secretary posted, then deleted, that naval assets had escorted an oil tanker through the contested waterway.
“I can confirm that the US Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing at the White House. “Though, of course, that’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary, at the appropriate time.”
An Energy Department spokesperson later said a video clip on Wright’s X account had been “incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff.”
“President Trump, Secretary Wright, and the rest of the President’s energy team are closely monitoring the situation, speaking with industry leaders, and having the U.S. military draw up additional options to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, including the potential for our Navy to escort tankers,” the spokesperson said.
Wright’s official X account had posted earlier Tuesday: “The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” The message was deleted a few minutes later.
On Tuesday morning, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said that “if tasked to escort” oil ships through the strait, the military would “look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that.”
Trump first raised the idea of naval escorts last week. But he said Monday he hoped they would’t be needed. Internal deliberations over the timing and conditions for a US naval operation have been a central focus inside the administration, according to multiple people briefed on the planning.
Oil prices, which were already trading lower, took another step lower after Wright’s post before paring those losses after he deleted it.
US crude oil prices traded just above $84 per barrel before Wright’s post, fell as low as $76.73 per barrel shortly after the post, and then bounced back and traded around $84.70 per barrel as of 2:23 p.m. ET. US oil prices are still down more than 10% on the day.
